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Exploring Turntable Mats

R

resound

Super Member
Ive got a few different kinds of aftermarket mats and was pondering the finer points.

What kinds of mats do you use, and why?

I got a box full of assorted's awhile back and in there were a couple different kinds of felt mats. One says its an "Anti-Static/ Slip" mat. and is hard felt vs. other softer felt ones. Who has problems with their vinyl slipping? Under what circumstances might that happen? Seems ridiculous. So you've got so much torque turning the platter and your stylus digs to the deepest depths of the groove so well, that the groove to tip friction nessesitates the use of a traction device? WoW :D

A 1/4" soft rubber "music mat" vs. many different kinds of stock style mats of similiar thickness' of different durometers.

Combinations? a rubber with a felt on top?
Are changes in mats on more modern tables with solid, heavy aluminum platters less noticable than on a steel or thin alum. platter models......
Better on idler wheel vs. belt vs. DD.

Seems it could be subjective, based on the charecteristics of the table. And of course there is a VTA change in some instances Im sure. :scratch2:


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resound said:
I got a box full of assorted's awhile back and in there were a couple different kinds of felt mats. One says its an "Anti-Static/ Slip" mat. and is hard felt vs. other softer felt ones. Who has problems with their vinyl slipping?
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Slip mats are designed to allow record slip, not to prevent it. It's what DJs use to get instantaneous startup by holding the record with the platter rotating until they let go of it, and to turn records back and forth on the platter.
 
gkimeng said:
Slip mats are designed to allow record slip, not to prevent it. It's what DJs use to get instantaneous startup by holding the record with the platter rotating until they let go of it, and to turn records back and forth on the platter.
Click to expand...

Aahh. See, thats my age showing. :D Thats funny. I see it now.

And the other variations of assorted mats are variing degrees and styles of dampening and absorption I imagine.

:scratch2:

Then I started thinking about the Arm / stylus / surface relationship.

It seems to me that a solid surface such as a heavy platter with a thick, soft rubber mat on it would be more of a dense and immovable surface, and once a record is seated evenly and firmly on this surface, like with a clamp or weight, would all be perceived by the arm / stylus as one.

wheras ~

Thinking of the same arm riding on a record layed on a very ventilated factory mat with sometimes less than 50% surface area contact, which in turn is on a thin, hollow aluminum platter.

I can imagine a possible resonance from the vinyl itself in this manner.

No one wants to jump in with some mat-ology?


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I'm keen on hard mats myself. My Oracle Delphi has an acrylic mat; my Technics SL-110 a copper mat topped with maple veneer, and my Mission 775 has no mat at all.

You can't beat the degree of detail and clarity a hard surface provides. Clean, articulate bass without boom and a wide dynamic range with low surface noise are typical characteristics of these mats. The heavy copper mat on the Technics damps the platter so effectively it doesn't ring at all, resulting in very low colouration.

Once you try one, you won't go back to rubber or felt.
 
I haven't come to a decision on mats, but I have cork, sorbothane, copper and some mystery rubber compound versions to experiment with.
 
As I read this thread, I am reminded of one of the first woofers Speakerlab sold. It had one of those shiny aluminum dust caps and in their catalog they joked that some said that it had mystical powers.

That is, I'm getting the feeling that the mat doesn't matter all that much, with the exception of the obvious stuff - slip mats designed for slipping, etc.
 
I am in the process of experimenting with mats myself. I have a Thorens TD 165 and I ditched the stock rubber mat for now. Currently I have basically a three-layer mat: a craft foam layer, a cork layer, and a cork dot layer. I am going to replace the foam layer with the non-slip waffle drawer liner stuff tomorrow to see how it sounds.
 
bsabel said:
...I am going to replace the foam layer with the non-slip waffle drawer liner stuff tomorrow to see how it sounds.
Click to expand...

My only advise is watch that if it comes in contact with your records. I have seen many a waffle liner leech onto the vinyl. Not all will do it, but most will.
 
I'm currently using a rubbermat on an old but flat vinyl lp on aluminium platter

mat permutations are infinite & all subjective
 
As long as;

-The material that contacts the vinyl doesn't damage it

-Surface contact is good

It's ok with me. I don't feel the need for clamps and do not dare not to use a mat or a hard one for the first reason I mention (although I would not dare say it's not a good solution).

I think my mats are neoprene, they work perfectly. They feel 'better' than felt or rubber, but SQ wise.. No difference.
I don't remember with which turntable they came..
 
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I use a combination, my TT came with a 1/4" rubber mat that I use and then I have a felt Witchfinder General slip mat that came with a limited edition vinyl set of theirs on top of the rubber mat. I have played around with just the rubber mat and just the felt mat and I cant hear a difference in the audio quality. to be honest though I was more curious whether the height difference would make a difference as opposed to the materials of the mats
 
I like the Linn felt mat. Some reasons listed below.

1. One of the useless, dangerous, and foolish modifications of the LP12 listed in the Linn manual is:
The use of platter mats other than the felt mat supplied by Linn. Generally these mats decouple the record from the platter. Whether they will, in fact, correct for problems in other tables, is debatable. In the case of the Linn, the decoupling only makes it more difficult for us to retrieve information from the record.

2. Though now sadly out of business (retired) the maker of the Neauance isolation platforms (one of the few tweaks that really improved my system) had written, "you'd be shocked as to how much of the Linn's expressive character is related to the mat. Put it on a Rega, Oracle, Michell, etc., etc., and that table will almost always take on more than a hint of a Linn-like presentation."

3. Art Dudley in his review of the VPI Scout mentioned that he preferred forgoing the clamp and using a thin felt mat. I found that I also preferred my WTRP when forgoing the clamp and using my Linn felt mat on the acrylic platter.
 
I have a rubber mat from an old Hitachi turntable that I don't use. Can anyone tell me how this would be in place of the felt mat on my Rega? I really am getting sick of all the static from the felt mat. On my heavier 180 gram LP's, it sticks right to them.
 
I had a felt mat that would always try to escape by hanging off the LP after each play. Very static-attracting.

I haven't tried the waffle shelf liner stuff, but I did hear it's a good idea to wash it and let it try, it may leave some residue on the vinyl. I think it was probably posted here somewhere.
 
:scratch2:

And then Im hearing, seeing, reading about people that run matless on a hard surface. You'de think that would be a cheap place to start if you were going to test from left to right, but nope. Seems all the tables, pieces and platters to acheive this are at a price point all their own.



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I had heard the the shelf liner will leave a residue. So I hand washed mine with Woolite before using. (We're all nuts, aren't we?) Seems to have done the trick!
 
I use an old Mission IsoMat (sorbothane) mat that I've had for 28 years. It's a very dense rubber that dampens out environmental vibrations. In the 28 years I've had it, while it can be sticky, I've never noticed any sort of residue left on my vinyl.

I also have a Mission IsoPlat (turntable platform with sorbothane feet) and a lightweight plastic clamp.

I remember the first thing in this triad of stuff that I bought was the clamp, and there was an instant, obvious improvement in sound quality. Adding the IsoMat and then, a month or so later, the IsoPlat, each also resulted in a very noticeable difference in sound quality.

I've been running my system this way for so long, I've forgotten what it used to sound like (and don't even have the original mat to go back to - c'mon, 28 years is a long time to hang onto something you don't use).
 
Crafts store "Foamies" make nice thin slip mats, or, base mats. They're 12"x15"x2mm sheets, and are about $1 at common crafts stores, and cover the spectrum for colors.
I taped one on a Rega platter, and have them on a couple of other decks, and like them. They're also easily cleaned with a damp rag, or even a complete washing.
I run idler drives exclusively, and use heavy rubber mats to kill idler ring. I place these over the rubber as a slip mat (but I'm not a DJ), because I change and flip records with the platter spinning.
 
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